Why Reinier de Ridder Is NEVER Going Back to Middleweight

All right, here with RDR big fight coming up in Satown on Saturday.

We'll jump right into it.

Uh, I think I, you said making 185 pounds 6 times in a row in a little over a year was one of the dumbest things you've ever done.

When did you finally decide I'm never doing this again?

Yeah, during the last weight cut, I was saying, uh, this is the last one.

I'm never, it's not gonna happen anymore.

It was, it's just so rough, dude, it's so much, the toll on your body is so large.

Um, it's been good, but, uh, it's over.

You said they took the, the cuts took the fun out of fighting a little bit for you.

Has this fight camp been fun being up at 205 and maybe being able to eat a little bit more of what you want to?

There we go, looking jacked up.

Yeah, it's so nice.

Just recovery is so much better.

Um, it's so nice to just have breakfast and have a decent portion meal.

It's, uh, it's been good, yeah.

Yeah, so you're obviously moving up, but you've been a world champion at 205 pounds before.

Does this feel like moving up or does it kind of feel like you're going back to where you belonged?

No, I've, I'm actually, uh, a lot heavier than back in the day.

So when I was fighting in one, I was like 210, um, like slowly cutting down to 205, like a couple of pounds.

But, um, all this American food for the last couple of years has, uh, made me gain some weight.

So, uh, it's uh still a bit of a cut, but it's at least not as dramatic as the 185 anymore.

For sure.

And uh your opponent, Roman, he's kind of doing almost the exact same thing, two straight losses, moving back up to 205.

Do you expect a different version of him without the middleweight cut?

Yeah, I think so .

It will be good for him too, yeah.

Yeah.

Um, so, you know, obviously, things didn't go your way the last two fights.

You've kind of, which kind of precipitated a move in Jims from Kilclough to Kilcliff to ATT.

What kind of ultimately facilitated that move?

Did you feel like you just needed a complete reset or what, what was it?

No, some stuff changing at Killcliff.

Um, I mainly came out for Henry, of course, and for, uh, for Ala, and, uh, Angla opened his own gym a little north in Florida as well, so he wasn't at Killcliff.

Um, Henry had some personal stuff going on, was not at the gym as much, as traveling a bit, um, and, um.

Just it wasn't that good the last 6 months, uh, unfortunately, so I felt like I had to make a change.

And I've been very fortunate that uh to be able to train at ATT.

It's so cool to work with the guys there, um, a lot of high-level coaches.

Um, I like, um, endless um supply of big guys to, uh, to train with, so, um, it's been, been very good.

It's been amazing.

It's obvious ATT is one of the most talked about gyms in the sport .

Um, you've obviously trained in high-level gyms all around the world.

What do you think separates ATT?

What's the biggest thing that might separate them from other gyms that you've trained in?

I think the structure they have is just brilliant.

The content of the class is very good.

The way they You can pick with, which, with which, with which, you know, with which coaches you want to work with, um, and, and that's just very, very beneficial and , um, it's amazing that over all these years, they've, have been able to avoid a lot of drama and uh just have been able to keep building, yeah.

For sure.

Just a couple more for me.

If you do go out there Saturday night, beat Roman, feel good doing it, how quickly do you think you can become a, a conversation in the title picture in this UFC light heavyweight division?

Yeah, most importantly, I need to put them away, right?

And uh, hopefully, a little spectacularly, and then I'll be fighting a top 10 guy next is my, my plan.

Yeah.

And then last one, you've obviously been a champion before, you know, getting to, you're 35 years old now.

The goal was to be a UFC champion.

Has anything changed with this move up in weight classes?

Has what, what you wanna get out of fighting changed at all?

Nah, uh, it's still the same.

I still like it.

I still love going to the gym.

I still love working hard.

Um, it's still a very cool part of my life.

And, um, I'm still ready to destroy a lot of guys in the next couple of years.

All right, RDR, thanks so much for your time, man.

Really appreciate it.

Thank you, Doc.

All the best.